This thesis explores women's learning in unpaid household work through the lenses of impairment and disability. Informal learning from this standpoint is a perspective that is not yet integrated into the adult learning literature. The impetus for the study came from dissatisfaction with the social undervaluing of unpaid housework and carework, and the largely unrecognized learning behind the work, which is predominantly done by women. Disability and impairment provide unique lenses for making visible what people learn and how they learn in this context. Those who have or acquire impairment in adulthood need to learn how to do things differently. For this study I have taken a segment of data from a 4-year, 4-phase project on Unpaid Housework and Lifelong Learning in which I participated. The participants in this segment are women and men with disabilities who took part in 2 focus groups (11 women), an on-line focus group (20 women), and individual interviews (10 women and 5 men). Learning is explored through three different themes: first, learning related to self-care; second, learning to accept the impaired body; and third, strategies and resources used in the learning process. Analysis of the data shows that the learning that happens through unpaid household work is multidimensional, fluid, and diverse. Learning is accomplished through a complex 4-dimensional process involving a blend of the body, mind, emotions, and the spiritual self. Furthermore, what participants learned and how they learned is influenced by the sociocultural context in which it takes place. Learning, when seen as a 4-dimensional process, provides a framework for challenging traditional Western cultural beliefs about what counts as learning and knowledge. Such beliefs have cultivated the viewpoint that learning is individualistic, cognitive, and based on reason. I contest these beliefs by disrupting the binaries that support them (e.g., mind vs. body, reason vs. emotion). Participants used both sides of the binaries in their learning processes, negating the oppositional and hierarchical categories they establish. The concepts in the binaries still exist but the relationship between them is not oppositional, nor is one concept privileged over another, either within or across binaries.

Many post-secondary schools across the country offer adult working students an opportunity to obtain at least partial credit for work and life experiences in their curriculum through portfolios. The primary goal of this project was to design, develop and evaluate a portfolio course for adult students at a small independent university. Design emphasized adult learning theory and incorporated instructional design best practices throughout. Also significant to the design was the implementation of the Quality Matters ™ Rubric. The project focus was to intertwine the six assumptions of adult learning theory while implementing best practices and effective instructional strategies, and to conduct formative and summative evaluations. The study incorporated a pre-test - post test instrument and satisfaction questionnaire for quantitative data collection. The results of this project are positive based on the evaluation data collected during this project.

Most Kenyan high school dropouts do not have a school reentry option, and without a high school diploma, they lack access to tertiary or higher education institutions for training and career development. This case study was an investigation of how an adult learning center in Kenya educated high school dropouts and helped them to gain access to vocational training or higher education. The research questions addressed the pedagogy, learning experiences, and curriculum of the Baraka Adult Learning Center (BALC) and also focused on how the BALC met students' aspirations, needs, and goals based on the perceptions of teachers and adult learners. The conceptual framework was based on liberatory education theory, transformative learning theory, and andragogy. Data collected from classroom observation s, curriculum review, and interviews with 9 current students, 3 former students, 5 teachers, and the principal were analyzed inductively by sorting and coding to generate emergent themes. The results of the study indicated that instructors followed the regular high school curriculum with little adaptation and lacked training about teaching adult learners and self-directed learning approaches. The adult learners perceived returning to school as getting a second chance. A professional development project for BALC instructors was developed to address some of the needs identified in the study. This training could have an impact on the adult learners by better assisting them to gain access to vocational training and higher education.

Bakgrund: Förändringstakten i dagens samhälle ställer stora krav på företagen att snabbt kunna anpassa sig efter omvärlden. Ett företag med ambitionen att snabbt kunna förändra sig, kräver förändringsbenägna och flexibla medarbetare. I Sverige är detta en verklighet som idag har nått in i vart och var annat företag. Vissa genomför förändringar av praktiska skäl men många med syftet att vitalisera organisationen och nå epitetet "lärande organisation". En lärande organisation behöver läraktiga medarbetare. Men vad är det som sker i en organisationsförändring? Hur ser de berörda individerna på de förändringar som numer sker allt oftare i arbetslivet? Föder organisationsförändringar lärande hos individerna? Syftet: Syftet med min studie har varit att studera hur yrkesverksamma ser på och resonerar kring lärande i och med förändringar på sina arbetsplatser. Metod: Studien utgår ifrån en sociokulturell ansats där jag med hjälp av semistrukturerade intervjuer försökt att få mina respondenter att med egna ord berätta om sina upplevelser av lärande, positiva som negativa, som skett i samband med förändringar i sitt yrkesliv. Resultat: Analysen av respondenternas berättelser visar att förändringar i arbetslivet leder till att individerna gör viktiga erfarenheter och att ett visst slags lärande sker. Olika individer har olika behov när det gäller vad som premierar deras lärande. Medan vissa är i stort behov av trygghet har andra ett större behov av att veta syftet och nyttan med det som ska åstadkommas. Gemensamt för dem alla är att grunden för en bra förändringsprocess ligger i den information och den kommunikation som sker inom organisationen. / Background: The speed of change in todays society places considerable demand on businesses adaptability. A business wishing to quickly change course requires flexible employees with a will to change. Some carry out changes for practical reasons while many do so to vitalise the organisation and create a learning organisation. A learning organisation needs teachable employees. But what is it that happens in the course of organisational change. How do the individuals involved view these changes which are more and more common in working life. Does organizational change lead to learning amongst individuals? Purpose: The purpose of this study is to study how employees view and reason with regard to learning in the context of change at their workplaces. Method: The study uses a social cultural approach where semi-structured interviews are used to encourage the respondents to describe positive and negative experiences of learning, that have taken place in conjuncture with changes in their work life. Result: The analyses of respondents descriptions shows that changes in work life give the individuals important experience and that a certain kind of learning does occur. Different individuals have different needs with regards to what encourages their learning. While some are in great need of security, others have a greater need to know the purpose and usefulness of what is to be achieved. The common basis for all is however the management of

published_or_final_version / Linguistics / Master / Master of Arts in Applied Linguistics

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine the beliefs of 5 experienced instructors about the ways adults learn in online professional development (OPD) courses, beliefs about creating online learning environments, and beliefs about instructional strategies for facilitating adult learning. The following questions guided this study: 1. What are the instructor’s beliefs about the ways that adults learn in online professional development courses? 2. What are the instructor’s beliefs about creating an online learning environment for adult learners? 3. What are the instructor’s beliefs about the use of instructional strategies to facilitate online learning with adults? The setting for the study was the professional development program of a large metropolitan school district in the southeastern United States. Data were collected through interviews, discussion board postings, and instructor journals and analyzed using a constant comparative method (Glaser & Strauss, 1967; Strauss & Corbin, 1998). The following themes emerged from the data: • Adult learning in OPD courses is an active process of making connections and applying knowledge and skills. • Learning for adults in OPD courses must be useful, meaningful, relevant, practical, adaptable, and applicable to the work setting. • Learning for adults in an OPD course requires more effort and commitment than learning in face-to-face professional development settings. • Adult learners in OPD courses need a comfort zone where they can feel “safe” communicating and interacting with learners and the instructor. • Adult learners need varying amounts of encouragement, support, guidance, and nurturing within a positive online learning environment(OLE)that supports and sustains them. • Instructors believe that collaboration is an effective strategy for facilitating learning with adults in OPD courses, yet existing barriers limit collaboration. • The OPD instructor is a flexible facilitator of learning who uses different types of feedback to confirm, correct, and inform learning with adults.

<p>This study investigated the reasons why FET part-time students enrolled at a FET college by examining their learning orientations. Guided by the literature, the focus was on the vocational orientation to learning and orientations to learning were further investigated within the vocational orientation based on orientations developed for part-time students found in the literature. In addition, it was investigated whether students&rsquo / expectations have been met and if they were satisfied with the college experience. Lastly, the study examined the relevance of college learning to the world of work and the contribution it made to the career development of learners in a globalising world. </p> <p>The research shows that part-time students enrol at FET colleges predominantly for vocational reasons and the majority of the students were enrolled in order to advance their careers and associated with a vocational orientation to learning. However, it emerged that reasons for learning within the vocational orientation to learning are often multi-faceted and complex. The most important findings are 3 new learning orientations for part-time students that were identified: &lsquo / education for a qualification&rsquo / , &lsquo / education for adults who previously made the wrong choice&rsquo / and &lsquo / education for adults as a model for their children&rsquo / . Furthermore, the findings indicate that learners were satisfied with the programme they were enrolled in because they believed that the qualification would enable them to achieve their vocational aims which were primarily to find a new job, to be promoted and to increase their income. The findings suggest that the programme that was examined was relevant to the world of work, promoted employability and that it made a significant and important contribution to students&rsquo / career development in a globalising world.</p>

<p>The impact of global migration on local contexts has spawned new issues and a range of social responses. These include the emergence of &lsquo / xenophobia&rsquo / in the terrain of discrimination and&nbsp / the subsequent development of popular educational responses to this. As part of popular educational responses, adult education programmes have assumed an important role in changing&nbsp / people&rsquo / s attitudes. This long research paper presents a critical analysis of how a human rights and counter-xenophobia peer educators&rsquo / programme enables young adults to develop a critical consciousness about human rights and &lsquo / xenophobia&rsquo / . The research focused on learning materials, course content, training methodology and processes of a three-day human rights and counter- xenophobia workshop held by Umoja wa Afrika, a local non-governmental organization, in March/April 2007 at Goedgedacht, just outside Cape Town. The research was based on qualitative&nbsp / methodology which included an exploration of relevant literature, interviews with participants and facilitators, as well as the researcher&rsquo / s critical reflections. The research was located within a&nbsp / critical theory framework in the field of adult&nbsp / learning, and drew from the work of Paulo Freire (1970) and Stephen Brookfield(2005).&nbsp / The key finding of the study is that the experience of the&nbsp / workshop enabled participants to develop a critical awareness - but not necessarily a critical understanding of human rights and &lsquo / xenophobia&rsquo / . The participants identified specific factors that&nbsp / contributed to such awareness. These included the diverse composition of participants, the &lsquo / accompanying&rsquo / facilitation style, and the interactive training methodology. This study makes a&nbsp / contribution to understanding human rights peer education in the South African context and the extent to which such provision could enable participants to develop a critical understanding of&nbsp / human rights and xenophobia. This study is an attempt to make an original contribution in this area. As such it adds to literature in applied critical methodology.&nbsp / </p>

BUT : Cette étude longitudinale a pour objectif d’évaluer l’impact à court terme des programmes d’enseignement sur l’autogestion du diabète dispensés par l’équipe multidisciplinaire de l’Unité de jour de diabète (UJD) de l’Hôtel-Dieu du CHUM. L'UJD offre une formation de 4 jours (F4), avec une intervention mixte de type individuelle et de groupe, et une autre de 2 jours (F2), avec une intervention de groupe uniquement. MÉTHODE : En plus des mesures liées au contrôle métabolique (hémoglobine glyquée, indice de masse corporelle), des outils validés ont été retenus afin d’évaluer le niveau de littératie des patients, de même que les connaissances, les comportements d’autogestion et les attitudes par rapport au diabète à 0, 1 et 6 mois d’intervalle. Un total de 43 patients a été recruté, dont 13 en F2 et 30 en F4. RÉSULTATS : Âgés en moyenne de 59 ans, 77% des participants aux formations ont une scolarité de niveau collégial et plus. Cela les situe à un niveau satisfaisant de littératie, c'est-à-dire au regard de l’aptitude à comprendre et à utiliser l’information écrite dans la vie courante. En revanche, 64% des patients qui ne se sont pas présentés au cours (N=11) avaient un niveau de scolarité équivalent ou inférieur à un secondaire cinq. Les données analysées à l’aide de tests non-paramétriques montrent que les formations permettent à court terme une amélioration significative du contrôle métabolique des patients (p=0,042; N=33) et une perte pondérale moyenne de 2,4 kg (p=0,004; N=27). Les deux types de formations favorisent l’augmentation des connaissances sur la maladie (p=0,000 2jrs/4jrs) et contribuent à faire progresser favorablement les attitudes, soit de façon significative dans le cas des participants à la formation de 4 jours (p=0,000). La formation de 2 jours s’avère particulièrement efficace pour améliorer les comportements d’autosoins comme la prise de glycémie et les soins des pieds, alors qu’elle n’a eu que très peu d’effet sur les comportements liés au mode de vie. CONCLUSION : Les résultats de cette étude sont en faveur d’une intervention de type mixte et d’un plus grand nombre d’heures de contact entre les éducateurs et éducatrices et la ou le patient. Les données suggèrent finalement que bien que les interventions soient efficaces, ce sont les patients déjà fortement scolarisés qui tendent à participer à ce type de formation structurée. / OBJECTIVES : The objective of this longitudinal study is to evaluate the short term impact of diabetes self-management programs given by the multidisciplinary team of the CHUM Hôtel-Dieu Diabetes Day-Care Unit over 2-days (T2) or 4-days (T4) training sessions. METHODS : A total of 43 patients were recruited; 13 in the 2-day program, providing only group intervention and 30 in the 4-day program, providing both group and individual interventions. Besides measures of metabolic control (glycated haemoglobin, body-mass index), validated tools were used to evaluate literacy, as well as knowledge, self-care behaviours, and attitudes towards diabetes (at 0, 1 and 6 months). RESULTS : The average age of patients participating in the training sessions is 59 years old, and 77% have reached collegial or higher educational levels. This gives them sufficient literacy skills in terms of capacity to understand and use written information in everyday life. However, 64 % of the patients that did not show up or complete the training (N=11) had educational levels equal or lower to secondary 5. Outcome data, analyzed with nonparametric tests, show that diabetes self-management education programs of the Hôtel-Dieu CHUM lead to significant short-term improvement of metabolic control in patients (p=0,042, N=33) and result in a average weight loss of 2.4 kg (p=0,004, N=27). Both types of training increase patients knowledge of the disease (p=0,000 F2/F4), and the 4-days training session significantly contribute to positive attitudes towards the disease (p=0,000). The 2-days training program is particularly effective in improving self-care behaviours such as blood glucose monitoring and foot care, but it had very little effect on behaviours related to lifestyle. CONCLUSION : These results show that the 4-day program has proven more effective in improving self-management competency suggesting that the duration of interaction time between educators and patient seems to be a good predictor of the impact of the training. Although interventions are found to be effective, outcomes ultimately suggest that it is mostly patients with higher education that tend to participate in this formal training. / Réalisé en collaboration avec l'équipe de l'Unité de jour de diabète de l'Hôtel-Dieu du CHUM: Hortensia Mircescu M.D., Françoise Desrochers, Michelle Messier et Stéphanie Chanel Lefort.

This study was motivated by my interest in what ordinary people, who have become involved in political, civic, environmental and other community organisations and taken up struggles in their communities, learn through this. I am specifically interested in how they learn through struggle in community-based grassroots organisations; and thus focused my study on Clairwood, where livelihood have been affected by the influx of trucks and environmental and industrial hazards, and people involved in the Clairwood Ratepayers and Residents’ Association (CRRA) who are struggling against this. I thus chose the critical paradigm as the most appropriate paradigm within which to locate my research, since I was interested in struggle and social change. In keeping with a critical paradigm, my study is qualitative in nature and the main data collection method was in-depth interviews, as I thought that it would be the most effective method to enable me to gather rich, qualitative data from my participants. The existing adult education literature on adult learning, especially in the social context, includes adult learning theory that looks at adults: who have significant experience of involvement in struggle: particularly of taking action; have experienced this collectively; and have presumably learned something from this experience. I chose experiential learning theory, and particularly the model of experiential learning theory as developed by Peter Jarvis, as the most useful in helping to understand the learning that takes place within the CRRA. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2012.